


Where There Also Be Dragons

by FireEye



Category: Ultima
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 04:45:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19310884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireEye/pseuds/FireEye
Summary: When spelunking for the fate of the world, there's always the chance you might meet a giant lizard.





	Where There Also Be Dragons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [roguefaerie (samidha)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/samidha/gifts).



The cavern below was dark.  Not the pitch blackness of the Abyss, nor the dim torchlight of a dungeon, but the velvet of an evening sky.  An updraft of warm air gave off a molten aura, suggestive of fire and sulfur ash.

The coil of rope unfurled with a slither of hemp, and hit the distant bottom with a muted echo.  It was anchored by its grapple to creaky old iron ring set into the wall, and to the lightly armored knight who held it firmly as though the first was suspect.

Feet planted on the brim, pitched over the emptiness, the Avatar breathed a steadying sigh.  She fell back, disappearing over the ledge and into the unknown, and Dupre shifted his stance by a thin margin as her weight pulled against the line.

She was halfway down, and her descent slowed as something stirred in the darkness surrounding her.  Light glimmered in the far distance, only to be obscured again by a deep, dark shadow.  Shifting her grip on the rope, she held out her hand and summoned a spark of light.

“ _In Lor._ ”

The _wall_ itself was moving.  Iridescent aqua-green scales shimmered all around her.  A long neck uncoiled, swanlike, from between hunched wings, and pinpricks of light reflected back at her from two highly perceptive eyes.

She bit off a startled curse.

Braving the rest of the distance in a single drop before the creature could snap her off the line in one bite, she landed on her back.  A jolt of adrenaline kept her moving as scrambled back painfully, and her hand went to her reagents pouch.  She invoked the words of healing, and a rush of warmth washed over her, mending the damage.

The creature’s head moved closer over her; its tongue flicked once to taste the air, then its lips curled back to reveal a flash of ivory teeth the size of arming swords.  There was a rasping sound from its throat, and a tang of molten rock washed over her.

“ _Avatar...?_ ” Shamino’s voice drifted down from above.  Openly uncertain, but his concern for her having abandoned the rope was evident.

“ _Dragon!_ ” she called back in warning.

Its tongue flicked again.  The dragon turned its head, and the pupil of its large, cat-like eye narrowed to focus on her.

“What isss thisss creature that disturbeth my ssslumber?”

There was movement on the other side of its head.  Shamino has wasted no time in following her down the line, and now Dupre was following his lead, throwing caution to the wind in favor of haste.

“Hold it!”  The Avatar shouted, as weapons were drawn.  “We’re okay... I think...”

At least, the dragon hadn’t attacked her yet.

Dupre was not so easily convinced.  Although his sword slid back into its sheath, he moved to stand between her and the dragon, even as Shamino came to stand at her side.

“Look – I’m sorry if we’re disturbing you-...”

The dragon made an amused hissing sound.

“...but we’re looking for an old fountain that’s supposed to be around here.  _Bet-ter-mír de pál-sil_.  Do you know of it?”

The dragon made a thoughtful rumbling sound in its throat.  The Avatar took that as a _yes_.

“Do you know where it is?”

“Perhapsss.”

“There’s a sickness sweeping through the land.  We need that fountain’s water to heal it.”

“What need you the fountain?  Didssst you not heal yourssself mere momentsss ago?”

“Healing takes energy.  The energy it would take for that, all at once...”  And it would take one _hell_ of a mage, which Britannia was in rather short supply of right now.  “It could easily kill any mage who attempted it.”

“Art you an Avatar,” the dragon asked, “or art you not?”

The Avatar inclined her head.  Stepping past her most stalwart companion, she held her hands outward in an open question.

“Is this a test?”

“Tessst?”

“...never mind.”  Smiling wryly, she asked, “Do you know where the fountain is, or don’t you?”

The dragon made that hissing sound again.  It circled them around them, turning around in the cramped cavern, then disappeared deeper into the darkness, tail flicking as it did.

The Avatar followed, the wisp of a light bobbing along after her.  Shamino and Dupre fell in step behind her.

The cave floor sloped further downward.  The dragon plodded along ahead, wings rasping against the ceiling.  At length, there was a breeze of fresh air.

Folding its wings, the dragon slithered under an overhang that cut under the wall, avoiding the light that spilled in from above as the cavern opened up above their heads.

The grass-blanketed earth beneath appeared to be the ruins of an ancient courtyard.  Moss and lichen overgrew the brick and fallen columns, along with an assortment of wildflowers, all fed by the small light wells that had been cut into the rock ceiling to the surface.  The fountain itself sat in the center of the ruin – clear, bubbling water running over to fill an alabaster basin, etched with runes that had partially worn away over time.

There was a muted undercurrent of magic.  It permeated the ground and the air, and only grew stronger as she neared the fountain.

Tugging off her gloves, the Avatar shoved them under her belt before running her fingers through the water.  She cupped her hand, and raised the modest sip to her mouth.

...and immediately spat it out, startling both her Companions.  She scrubbed her mouth with the back of her hand.

“It’s poison.”

Disappointment sank her spirit.  Going by the expression of her friends, the sentiment wasn’t hers alone.

“What expectessst you?” the dragon’s voice whispered out of the dark, sounding amused.  “The water hath been cursssed.”

“What do you mean?  _Cursed_ , how?”

“The esssence of the water hath been tainted.  Many died for itsss power, long ago.”

The Avatar glanced down, at the water that rippled in the fountain.  The mirrored surface was dizzying, almost seeming to draw her in as she stood staring into it.

“Careful, Master.”

She could practically hear Arcadion squirm, and at once fully understand why.  She, too, had seen this type of reflection before.

“I feel it.”

The Avatar closed her eyes, reached out _beyond_.  Trying to find a thread, or a pattern.  But the magic was strongest at the fountain, and rolled off the walls in a mist.

Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes.  She could see the bottom of the fountain, along with the rippling reflection of the ceiling above, but not herself.

Shamino touched her shoulder, startling her back to herself.  She glanced at Dupre, who remained skeptical to say the least.  The question that hung over them was self-evident.

_What now?_

“... _this_ is the test,” the Avatar surmised, speaking quietly to herself.  “Well, why not; it’s what I’m good at.”

She licked her lip, turning back to the fountain.  Rather than resist the pull, she let it wash over her.

“Right.  Here goes.”

The Avatar fell into the water.

~*~

She landed on her back.  The world had taken on a pale, distorted hue, but other than knocking the wind out of herself the second time in an hour, she could still breathe.  The dragon was gone, as were her companions.  Even Arcadion had vanished, along with the sword that wouldn’t let her put it down.

Pulling herself upright, the Avatar found herself on the ceiling, staring at the ground.  The courtyard was there, no longer a ruin and eerie in a reflected full moonslight, only, instead of a fountain, a trickling stream cut through the hardy grass.

It took her a while to find the path back down to the ground.  She slowed as she approached the stream, eyes narrowing at the figure that stood by the water’s edge.

“There thou art.”  Though his cloak obscured him, his voice was clear as a bell.  “I was starting to think thou wouldst not come.”

And if the Time Lord was here, then...

“Is the Guardian behind the sickness?”

“The Guardian is behind many things, but not the sickness that hath taken Britannia.”

That was a surprise.  But then, she supposed, _who_ was behind it didn’t matter.

“How do we cure it?”

Under the shadow of the Time Lord’s hood, she could just make out a hint of a smile.  He spread his hands.

“I am the spirit of the water.  Blood was spilt.  It wilt take righteous blood to cleanse the fountain of its poison.”

“A riddle.”

“Wert thou always virtuous?”

Blindsided, the Avatar blinked.

“Don’t you already know the answer to that question?” she ventured warily.

The Time Lord didn’t answer.  Taking a breath, the Avatar did, “...no.  I wasn’t.”

“Then... what hope hast thee?”

“None but a fool’s hope.”

The Time Lord’s smile grew deeper.

“May that be enough.”

The world rippled.  The Time Lord vanished, leaving her all alone on the bank of a stream.  The Avatar glanced around the warped cavern, then her gaze dropped to the water.  A darkness whispered through it, drifting downstream on the current.

Frowning, she dropped down to sit beside it and propped her hand under her chin, rolling the Time Lord’s words over in her mind.

 _Blood was spilt_.

Drawing her pocketknife, the Avatar clicked the blade open.  Steeling herself, she pulled the blade across her palm.

Holding her hand over the water, she let the droplets of blood run down her fingertips.  They fell into the water.

“May it be enough,” she echoed.

~*~

The Avatar floundered.  She managed to grab the edge of the fountain, and strong hands reached to carefully assist in dragging her up and over.  Other than a few stray droplets that stubbornly clung to her hair and the linen of her tunic, however, she remained dry.

Arcadion’s familiar weight hung against her shoulder once more, and her Companions were where she’d left them.  The dragon, however, seemed to have slithered off from its niche.

“Art thou alright?” Dupre asked.

Shamino’s attention had wandered lower.  “Thy hand...”

“It’s fine.”

The Avatar reached into her pouch for a spell.  “ _Mani._ ”

Her hand tingled, but the wound remained.  Shamino’s eyes widened in slight surprise, and Dupre shifted his weight uncomfortably.

Frowning, she tried a higher circle.  “ _Vas Mani_.”

“Um...”

Sheepishly, the Avatar drew a knife.  Once she’d worked off a slice of her tunic, Shamino helped her bind her hand.  Once it was bandaged, she flexed her fingers experimentally.  Then cleared her throat, and shrugged, offering them a rakish smile.

“The fountain should be un-cursed, at least.”

~*~

Climbing back up the rope with an injured hand took some effort, but she managed.  At the top, she was greeted by the sound of a lute being tuned.

“Took thou long enough.”  Iolo wondered, “Did thou find it, or were thou just making new friends?”

“We found it.  And we maybe made a new friend, it’s hard to tell.”

The Avatar turned to help Shamino up the last couple of feet.  Both of them helped drag Dupre up and over the edge.

Iolo plucked a series of notes, before working to adjust one of the strings.  The Avatar dropped down across from him, near her backpack.

“You know,” she remarked, “when that map said _Here there be dragons_ , I somehow didn’t expect it to be quite that _literal_.”

**Author's Note:**

> -I struggle with Early Modern English, but hopefully it's consistent enough to the games. ~~I _tried_.~~  
> -I also struggle with Gargish. It's supposed to read 'Fountain of the Pale Star.' ...and no, no deeper meaning, it just sounds cool.  
> -Please accept this thing. :)


End file.
